Google recently released the latest beta of Android 12L and followed it up with the first preview of Android 13 just a day later. This was not only earlier than expected but also shows that Android 12L is probably a one-off “blip” that was born more out of necessity. A successor for the operating system is no longer to be expected.
Users of current Pixel smartphones are always on the latest Android version, but these days the curious situation arises that they can choose from three different Android versions! Android 12, Android 12L, and Android 13. This temporary situation is likely to resolve soon, although the exact timing for the future of Android 12L when it leaves the beta channel is unknown to this day.
The first pre-release version of Android 13 is here and made one thing clear when it was first announced: Android 13 is also optimized for large displays, specifically speaking foldable, tablets and Chromebooks. These are the same words used for Android 12L. And this makes it very clear that Android 13 will not only succeed Android 12 but also Android 12L.
This closes the new strand again and Android 12L becomes a one-off excursion like Android Honeycomb back then. Honeycomb was born out of necessity to offer a tablet-optimized version. Already with the successor Ice Cream Sandwich and very extensively with Jelly Bean both surfaces have been brought under one roof. The same has now happened again with foldable.
Foldables are coming in spring
And because Google was in such a hurry and really wanted to offer the foldable functions in March – instead of with Android 13 in August – it seems clear that new devices are just around the corner. The first Google foldable is no longer a secret, and other manufacturers apart from Samsung are also expected to bring more foldable smartphones onto the market in the spring. The corresponding functions were probably not finished in Android 12 and would have come too late with Android 13.
Android 12L was therefore certainly not the worst idea, even if it leaves a curious situation at the moment. In April in particular, users who are keen to experiment will then have to decide whether they want to stay on Android 12, upgrade to Android 12L, or already use the Android 13 beta. Functionally, it will probably not make any serious differences, especially not on normal smartphones with a “small” display.
The Google I/O already promises to be very exciting, because this year Android should finally play a bigger role again due to the foldable and the new focus on tablets.